Trains from Toronto to Ottawa, Montreal cancelled Saturday due to ongoing protest

TORONTO (NEWS 1130) — VIA Rail trains from Toronto to Ottawa and Montreal were cancelled once again on Saturday due to an ongoing protest near Belleville, Ontario on the tracks.

A notice on their website says 21 trains have been cancelled. Via says all other trains are prepared to leave on schedule from Toronto to and from Ottawa and Montreal should they achieve clearance of the line and travelers should stay tuned to further updates.

They will also automatically be issuing refunds for those affected by the cancellations.

Ontario provincial police have also said Friday they’re monitoring the situation, but there have been no arrests. Bill Dickson, an OPP spokesman, said in the afternoon that the protesters had been there for 24 hours.

WATCH: VIA Rail trains stopped due to pipeline protests

The blockade also paused freight service for Canadian National Railway, which said it’s stopped running trains due to a protest between the eastern Ontario towns of Shannonville and Desoronto.

The company said it is monitoring the situation, but offered no other details.

Passenger and freight rail traffic was stopped at Marysville, which is just east of Belleville, Thursday night after protesters forced the shutdown of rail lines in support of the Wet’suwet’en, who faced raids yesterday from the RCMP on camps set up to stop a natural gas pipeline in British Columbia.

Photos from the scene show a snowplow and several other vehicles lined up on the road just shy of the tracks, and plywood signs spray-painted with the phrases “Indian land” and “RCMP get out.”

A protest is also being held on Saturday in Toronto in support of the Wet’suwet’en in Dovercourt Park. The group is blocking a CP freight line near Dupont and Dufferin.

Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins says the rail line is not used by GO Transit and is not impacting any of their service at this time.

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